Tiananmen, 15 Years On

Where Are Some of the “Most Wanted” Participants Today?

Photo withheld

Fang Lizhi“June 4, 1989 was one of the most important events of the last century.”
—May
2004

In September 1989, the Ministry of Public Security issued “Compilation No. 2,” a
list of major criminals who had not yet been caught. Fang Lizhi, once a physics
professor at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, Anhui province,
already purged from the Party and fired from his post, headed the list. His wife
Li Shuxian, was No. 2.

Even before 1989, Fang’s outspoken political activism going back to his early
student days, his determination to foster “intellectual and academic freedom,” his
concern for human rights, and his influence among students had made government
officials wary. In February 1989, security personnel went so far as to corner
Fang and his wife on a Beijing street to prevent them from attending an official
dinner hosted by then U.S. President George Bush. Fang did not appear in the
Square during the pro-democracy movement, but on June 6, 1989, he and Li sought
asylum in the U.S. embassy in Beijing where they remained until they left for
the U.K. a year later. Another half year passed before Fang accepted a teaching
and research position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University.
Professor Fang now teaches in the physics department at the University of Arizona.
More Profiles:

Wang
Dan
“ The future for democracy in China is dependent not just on political institutions
but on the growth of a vibrant civil society.”
—May 25, 2004

Feng
Congde
“Tiananmen was the beginning of the end of the communist camp. It was a wake-up
call to Chinese inside and outside China.”
—May 2004

Zhang
Boli“1989 stands out as a beautiful moment. We stood up. It wasn’t easy.
Overturning the government’s official verdict isn’t important; what’s important
is what we did. History will judge us properly.”
—June 2, 2004

Liu
Gang
“We didn’t failfailure is the mother of success. There’ll be more chancesand
we have more experience.”
—May 2004

Zheng
YiZheng worked with other intellectuals to craft statements of
support for the students including the famous “Declaration of May
16.”

Wang
Chaohua“I jumped into the center of the movement. I thought I could
make a decision for myself....But this...decision had repercussions
for others, including ones I love dearly.”
—May 26, 2004

Li
Lu“Once in [Tiananmen] Square you did anything and
everything that needed doing.”

Zheng
Xuguang“Within the movement we consistently adhered to the
principles of peace, reason and nonviolence.”
—1993 “Peace Charter”

Zhang
Ming Accused
of inciting subversion and attempting to overthrow the socialist
system, Zhang was sentenced in January 1991 to a three-year term.

Xiong
Yan
“We believe, no matter whether the government does or does not, that history
will recognize this movement as a patriotic and democratic movement….”
—May 1989

Wang
Juntao“Tiananmen changed Chinese history. It was a benchmark in Chinese
political development, furthering the liberal trend of the 1980s and
destroying the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.”
—May 2004

Ma
ShaofangMa Shaofang, the former Beijing Film Academy student who
was No. 10 on the most wanted student list, has remained politically
active in China.

Wang
Youcai“The develop-
ment of a democratic system is crucially
important. Democracy is the only way to avoid a second Tiananmen.”
—May 2004

Yang
TaoAuthorities charged Yang Tao had been an instigator of a “counterrevolutionary
rebellion,” had “advocated bourgeois liberalism,” and “wantonly
attacked Marxism.”

Han
Dongfang“1989 was the very first time the Chinese people themselves directly
faced the regime. Before that time, there was only hope.—May 2004

Zhou
Fengsuo“It was the one time I experienced the beautiful
character of the Chinese people longing for a democratic China
where we could freely speak our minds.”—May 2004

Zhang
Zhiqing
Zhang Zhiqing, No. 16 on “Wanted List 1,” disappeared from view shortly
after June 4, 1989. None of the other students on the most wanted list
has heard from him since.

Yan
JiaqiBy the time the 1989 protests came to a head, Yan Jiaqi had
years of experience in reform politics, working both inside and
outside the system.

Lu
Jinghua“Tiananmen 100 percent changed my life. Even since ’89, I’ve tried
to make people understand what life without human rights is really
all about.”
—May 24, 2004

Fang
Lizhi“June 4, 1989 was one of the most important events of the
last century.”
—May 2004